Chronology of Coverage

Jul. 21, 2015

Op-Ed article by legal scholar William Baude examines whether Supreme Court decision in favor of same-sex marriage paves way for plural marriage; assesses legal arguments both in favor and against plural marriage; suggests that lesson of court's decision is that current society cannot know what future will bring. MORE

May. 31, 2015

Ross Douthat Op-Ed column examines question of whether polygamy will gain more widespread acceptance due to social liberalism's ascendancy, which is evident in attitudes toward same-sex marriage; suggests that while polygamy is unlikely to be legally recognized for some time, it could be accepted eventually with little fanfare. MORE

Nov. 30, 2014

Timothy Egan Op-Ed column expresses fascination with reaction to acknowledgement by Mormon leaders that church's founder and prophet Joseph Smith took as many as 40 wives; praises church for opening up about its past. MORE

Nov. 11, 2014

Mormon leaders acknowledge for the first time that Joseph Smith, church's founder and prophet, took as many as 40 wives, some already married and one only 14 years old; church's disclosure, in series of essays online, is part of effort to be transparent about its history at time when church members are increasingly encountering disturbing claims about the faith on the Internet. MORE

Jan. 9, 2014

Family of Kody Brown, with his four wives and their 17 children, hopes to become the new face of polygamy; Browns have invited TLC television cameras into their Las Vegas homes for the reality show Sister Wives and have written a best-selling book about their lives, turning their cause into a minor industry. MORE

Dec. 15, 2013

Federal Judge Clark Waddoups strikes down parts of Utah's anti-polygamy law as unconstitutional in case brought by Kody Brown, Mormon star of reality television show Sister Wives; Brown and his family argue that state's prohibition on cohabitation violates their rights to privacy and religious freedom. MORE

Jun. 22, 2012

Justice Department sues polygamous towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz, claiming discrimination against people who are not members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. MORE

Nov. 24, 2011

Canadian court rules that the country's 121-year-old criminal law banning polygamy is constitutional. MORE

Nov. 9, 2011

Fredrick M Jessop, former polygamist bishop convicted of marrying sect leader Warren Jeffs to a 12-year-old girl, is sentenced to 10 years in prison. MORE

Oct. 30, 2011

Libya's interim government seems to clear way for unrestricted polygamy in Muslim country where it has been limited for decades; multiple marriages is a tenet of Islamic law. MORE

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Polygamy Navigator

"The Oprah Winfrey Show," October 2007. Includes excerpt from "Escape," by Carolyn Jessop, with Laura Palmer, a first-person account of polygamous life inside the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.